


Hominum Ex Machina

by muniatregia



Series: Hominum Ex Machina [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Aliens, Androids, Gen, Outer Space, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 12:30:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18756481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muniatregia/pseuds/muniatregia
Summary: A medical android's memory files get corrupted and he forgets that he's not human. This is a work in progress that will be continuously updated.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I'm excited to finally have somewhere to post my work. :D

Captain Tana Harbinger walked out into the bridge to address her crew. 

“It has come to my attention that some of you are uninformed about our new equipment,” Her gaze shifted towards her second-in-command, openly glaring at him as he shrugged. “I apologize for the oversight on behalf of my first mate.” Captain Harbinger continued, “This new equipment will be accompanying us on our voyage to the Alton System. Doctor Khanna’s retirement left us short on crew, but our exploration grant gave us enough to invest in a replacement.” The Captain pressed a few buttons on the console in front of her as she spoke. “I’d like to introduce you to your newest traveling companion,” she gestured to the door opening behind her, “meet DocDroid.”

The android was frighteningly normal. Brown hair, brown eyes, skin flushed pink in the chill of the bridge bay, matching the pigment of the human crew members. It stood tall, hands at its sides, dressed in a white doctor’s coat, indistinguishable from a human save for the purple armband on its right, signifying nonsentience in accordance with the Asimov Doctrine.  
It looked at the crew, eyes intense despite their friendly design as it scanned the crowd.  
“Good to see you're all healthy!” it chirped, voice low and calming, surprisingly lacking the monotone shared by most crew robots. Saro was the first to raise his hand for a question.

“Why isn't it Akia?” the Atrian asked, all four eyes looking at the medic droid.  
“The reason it isn't an organic sentient being,” the captain answered, reminding Saro to use common language instead of Atrian terms, “is to save both money and resources. An android doesn't need to eat, sleep, or be paid an annual salary. This droid performs check-ups, physicals, and can provide both emergency and supplementary assistance for something as severe as a plasma burn to something as simple as the common cold. It also routinely downloads new vaccines and can interface with our 3D chemical printer to make us medicine here on the ship so we don't have to make stops when someone is sick.”

One of the new crew members spoke up.  
“What is it doing with its mouth?” Tana turned to the robot and looked at its face.  
“That’s called a smile, Hitte. It's a common human expression of happiness.”  
Hitte’s face remained emotionless.  
“Why?”  
“Why what, Hitte?”  
“Why does it smile? Is it happy?”  
“It smiles so it looks more approachable.”  
Hitte gave a curt nod, apparently satisfied with the answer. 

“Feel free to ask the droid any further questions. I will be retiring to my quarters, and I suggest you do the same. We set off tomorrow. Rest well.” Captain Harbinger saluted as she left the bridge. 

Silence fell over the bridge.  
Some crew members took the captain’s advice and went to bed early. The rest stayed behind to ask the bot questions.

The android seemed to enjoy answering questions, stirring to life and responding to every inquiry in a happy, almost excited tone.  
“I was produced in a sustainable factory by happy workers! Garlacc and Malkazoin were the quality control workers assigned to me. Any problems with my hardware can be reported using the error code I provide, which will end in 221.”  
“My full model code is CQMD-ADM-221. I’m a CQ Series medical-grade android medic. I know the physiology of over 200,000 species, the cures for 1.1 billion diseases, and I can perform over 2 billion different procedures. Just tell me your symptoms, and I can provide a diagnosis with 99.9999% accuracy. If you're comfortable, I can analyze blood and tissue samples for a more precise diagnosis.”  
“I can provide basic physiological help and recommend local therapists for extended treatment. It is not recommended to see a robot for regular therapy sessions. I advise you to seek the counsel of a professional that knows about your culture and your brain chemistry.”  
“I’m preprogrammed with 289,997 languages, and I can translate up to three languages at once. I know the basic culture of every species registered with the Intergalactic Union of Civilizations.”  
“My nine-word emergency override code has been provided to your captain. Please refrain from using it unless absolutely necessary. Overrides and shutdowns can cause memory loss and corruption.”  
“The ancient earth Hippocratic Oath has been programmed into my very core. I can recite it for you in any earth language, as well as many of my other preprogrammed languages, if you’d like.”

It shocked everyone in the room when after a few dozen questions, the robot yawned.  
“I’m getting tired. Battery has been depleted due to…” the android paused as it rubbed its eye with its hand, humanlike to an uncanny degree, “...continued use of the preprogrammed memory stores,” it finished, somehow sounding sleepy.  
“Thank you for all your questions,” the medic smiled, “I’m glad to meet you all and I hope we work together well during our journey. I’m going to rest now. Good night.”  
With the strangely human phrase, the robot turned and left to its quarters to lay on its charging bed.


	2. LOG 01

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loe treats Saro, the ship's mechanic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters might be nonlinear, but they will all take place after the introduction, and will be organized when the work is complete.

The android’s hands were cold and clinical as it held Saro’s injured arm delicately.  
“It looks like this is just a flesh wound! I can clean it for you.” The android paused and looked up to Saro, making polite eye contact with his upper eyes and waiting for the Atrian to give the okay.

“...Does it need to be cleaned?” Saro shifted on the bench, uncomfortable in the sterility of the medical bay.

“I would recommend that you disinfect and bandage your wound to avoid infection or further irritation. I can provide this service if needed.”

Saro looked the android up and down suspiciously. The Atrian was unused to kindness without reason. “...I dunno how to wrap it, so you might as well.” Saro said as he held out his arm towards the droid in invitation.“Thank you for helping me help you!” the android smiled as he -it- began to bandage Saro. Saro watched the android work, wrapping gauze over the cut.  
“Tell me if I apply too much pressure, okay?”  
“Okay.” Saro nodded and found himself smiling at the robot. He -- _it_ \-- was so polite, and so gentle. Saro sat patiently as the droid worked. The Atrian began humming to himself, trying to think of a melody to pass the time. He stopped when he heard a harmony. Stupefied, the engineer watched as the robot in front of him hummed along, perfectly imitating the melody Saro had started.

“What….What are you doing?”  
“Hm?” the robot seemed confused by the question. “I’m applying gauze to your wound to protect it from irritants and infection.”  
“Not that. The... The humming,” Saro clarified, “Can you… Do you understand music?”  
“Of course I do. I hear things the same way any human does.”  
“That’s not what I asked.”  
“Well, what did you ask?”  
“I asked if you.. Could _understand_ music. Were you.. Programmed to do that?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“You.. don’t know?”  
The android stopped what he was doing.

Saro’s sensitive ears could hear the whirring of the mechanisms inside Loe. The tic-tic-tic of his carbon-fiber heart pumping synthetic blood across his circuits. The hum of electricity like the rushing of blood. The clicking of the gears in his knuckles as they stopped, halting his fingers as his artificial muscles contracted to curl his hand around the bandage wrapped on Saro’s arm.

Loe opened his mouth, as if to say something, but closed it before he said anything.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a comment!


End file.
